break the news

idiom

: to tell (someone) bad news
We tried to break the news to her gently.

Examples of break the news in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Kelly had to break the news that the Führer’s own officers tried, on several occasions, to disloyally assassinate him. Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2024 The Hollywood Reporter was the first to break the news, at which time DeMayo, who's been active on social media promoting the sequel to X-Men: The Animated Series, deleted his Instagram page. Nick Romano, EW.com, 12 Mar. 2024 Whelan flatlined, and Reyes had to break the news to Jet and the rest of the team. Christy Piña, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Jan. 2024 The day that happened, Monica Lozano went to her dad to break the news, expecting to hear his disappointment. Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2023 At the Cage, a dive bar and pool hall in Lewiston, the handful of patrons leaped from their seats as a local television station interrupted a sports broadcast to break the news that Card’s body had been discovered. Tom Bell, Washington Post, 28 Oct. 2023 Advertisement Maine state police arrived at around 1 p.m. Thursday to break the news of Aaron’s and Bill’s deaths to the Young family. Jeong Park, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2023 Kalani called an emergency therapy session to break the news. Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 24 Oct. 2023 Chang showed up to break the news of Ko’s closure at the October 24 staff meeting, according to employees. Sam Stone, Bon Appétit, 25 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'break the news.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near break the news

Cite this Entry

“Break the news.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/break%20the%20news. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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